Swiss Institute

For years, people who make proclamations about “something being the new something” have said “Brooklyn is the new Manhattan.” Apparently that means it’s now also totally boring in August? New York’s two most over-exposed boroughs are having a slow week, with just a smattering of art events (but we are thrilled Vector Gallery is making a triumphant return to Manhattan Thursday night.) Brooklyn has a Wednesday night performance at The Park Church Co-op and a screening of the 1977 feminist classic Riddles of the Sphinx to look forward to Thursday, but really it’s the rest of Long Island that sees the most action.

LIC will be art-star-studded Thursday night for MoMA PS1’s Night At the Museum closing party. Then, the party moves out to Fire Island for BOFFO’s performance festival. All weekend, look forward to genre-bending work across the swirly disciplines of drag, dance, music, and fashion from artists such as FLUCT, SSION, M. Lamar, Pearl, and more. Seriously, we can’t recommend a trip to the beach more—there’s practically nothing to do in the city’s art scene this weekend and the Fire Island fest looks like it’s going to go be remembered as a total “had to be there”.

The internet is taking over the world! Virtualism, digital currency, and MindClones are giving the IRL art world a run for its BitCoins. Even if tech-savvy art isn’t your thing, all of these events are a reason to take a much-needed break from your laptop.

We’ll ring in Earth Day with a reminder about nuclear power plants, and then drink away our fears at Flux Factory’s boy-girl Tween Dream basement party. Jon Kessler fans still have a chance to catch the final night of The Web, the Jon Kessler experience of being inside a smartphone. And openings. So many openings.

Who’s looking forward to sweating profusely this week at a bunch of crowded openings? I know I am! The question is, at which openings shall we sweat? I polled the AFC staff to come up with a few targets for the month. These are the results.